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Buying a new video projector can be a big step towards building your home cinema system. It’s a central piece that will guarantee that the content you watch will be projected with vibrant colors and accurate detail. That’s why you don’t want to make a mistake, and when you plug the product for the first time, to realize that it’s not what you needed at all.

A video projector is an affordable alternative to a massive TV that can sometimes be as expensive as a car. The technology incorporated in a modern model has improved substantially in the last decade, and because the competition has grown too, now affording a product like this is a reality for most consumers.

One thing you have to consider from the beginning is whether you’re going to use it for indoors or outdoors. If you want to use it outside, in direct sunlight, you might want to put some extra cash on the table since you will need a premium projector whose pixels won’t look washed out in abundant light. You want something with reasonable levels of brightness and a contrast capable of competing with the light rays.

Resolution and saturation are essential too, but those won’t matter as much unless you’re really fond of watching videos on huge projection screens. If you’re considering buying one for indoors, go for a silent model, as you don’t want the projector to ruin your movie night by making loud fans that are always turned on because the machine is constantly overheating.

One thing that people usually overlook when they make impulse buying decisions is the portability of a device. This aspect is not important if you want to build a home theatre, but if you want to take it with you when you go camping, or to a beach party with your friends, then make sure the item you buy is not chunky and heavy. As a bonus, look for a model that comes with rechargeable batteries.

Connectivity is also an aspect that should be taken into consideration. Most devices on the market have VGA ports, and they can prove themselves to be quite useful if you are not using the device very often. But if you want to use it for games, then make sure it comes with an HDMI port.

Or if you are someone who is always on the phone, a USB port is a must-have. It’s the thing which will allow it to play your movies straight from a flash stick or a smartphone. Wifi is not vital if it has all the connectivity possibilities mentioned above, but it is a nice bonus if it has the capability of steaming your favorite movies directly from the cloud, without needing any cables or other wires.

What skills do you need as a woodworker? Many people shy away from such projects because they believe they are incredibly difficult, or that they need to purchase costly equipment. None of these is true, and by learning a few things on how to use the right power tools, you will become ready to undertake DIY projects that involve woodworking.

How to drill holes

It doesn’t matter what kind of project you have on your mind. If it is a woodworking project, it will have something to do with drilling holes at one point or another. Cordless drills are your best companions if that is the case.

Drilling holes with ease is what they do best. Also, if you need to tighten screws or drill holes at an angle, you will find that there are plenty of tools that will help you achieve your goals. You should know that there are plenty of videos online showing you how to drill holes the right way, and you can start from there.

How to cut wood

There are plenty of power tools to help you cut through wood with ease. You can choose from circular saws and table saws, and there are even some manual alternatives. Circular saws are ideal for a wide variety of tasks, but you should keep in mind that they can be dangerous if not operated properly.

Pay extra attention to safety measures when working with power tools, and in particular with electric saws. A table saw may be a better option, because it is more convenient, but you need to be careful when working with one, nonetheless.

Choosing the right type of material

Even ifpower tools will do the heavy work for you, that doesn’t mean that you should neglect the importance of picking the right type of wood for your projects. Make sure to stay away from sub par materials, no matter how much the salesperson may try to pressure you into purchasing inferior quality materials.

Stay away from pieces of wood that are twisted, split, or cupped, because they will just get in the way, while you try getting everything right. Spare yourself the trouble and go only for prime pieces of wood that can be turned into the project of your choice.

Get familiar with the power tools used for DIY projects

As a DIY-er, you probably do not need top of the line hardware, but this doesn’t mean that you should be unaware of what power tools are the most adequate for your projects. A table saw, a miter gauge, ajointer, and some other power tools should be on your list. Make sure that everything matches your budget and you will be good to start working on your woodworking projects.

The tricks of the trade are concepts that all professionals know despite the fact that every one of them has slightly varying preferences and methods for doing things. The essence is to get consistent results even if the journey takes a variety of routes, right?

Before you start

Starting with a perfectly smooth surface ensures the woodwork and walls are perfectly painted. You will have to sand away any flaws so the sandpaper is most likely the first thing you will be pushing instead of a paint brush. Any joint-compound patches and speckles need to be sanded out. The ridges around nail holes have to be flattened.

Any burrs and rough spots in the trim will be removed as well. Use fine-grit sanding paper on a sanding pole to sand the walls from the baseboard to the ceiling. Along the baseboard and ceiling, sand horizontally afterward.

Any holes are filled and any cracks are patched using joint compound. Simply painting over those sucks the moisture from the paint and delivers a flat, dull look.or ‘flashing’. This results in a noticeably variable look compared to the rest of the wall. Priming handles that issue beforehand. White primer is less suitable compared to tinted gray or a color that approximates the finish paint.

Prior to starting to paint, do a thorough job of sticking the tape completely by running a putty knife over the top to press the tape down and achieve a good seal. Blue painter’s tape is better than masking tape, which tends to leave behind a sticky, hard-to-clean residue.

When painting

Thin bed sheets won’t keep spills and splatters from seeping through the flooring like canvas drop cloths can, just a few feet wide and running along the length of the wall. In addition, canvas drop cloths are also not slippery and can absorb splatters. The small canvas drop cloth protects the floor and is also easier to move. That said, large spills have to be wiped up immediately to prevent them from bleeding through.

To obtain a seamless look, finish one wall before starting on another to allow the better blending of the brushed and the rolled paint.

To keep the tools and paint from drying out when not in use, cover the tray, paint bucket, and container with a damp towel when transitioning between brushing and rolling.

Since paint typically ends up on the glass anyway, it’s pretty useless, not to mention time-consuming, to have to tape the windows prior to sash painting. Simply scrape off any dried-up paint on the windows using a razor blade to peel the unwanted element in seconds. Be careful not to break the paint bond between the glass and the wood, as moisture can get into the wood and cause rotting.

Although you select the same hue, the color can surprisingly vary between cans. For color consistency throughout the painting job, mix the cans of same-color paint in a five-gallon bucket, which is a process called ‘boxing’. You can paint directly from the bucket so you wouldn’t need to dispense paint frequently into a roller tray.

Use a load-and-go painting technique. This involves loading the lower 1.5 inches of the brush with paint, tapping each side against the internal surface of the container to handle the heavy drips, and commencing the painting. This produces better results compared to the typical load-and-dump technique that non-pros use, which involves dragging the loaded brush along the container sides to wipe off most of the paint. The latter is pointless and prolongs the job than it should be.

Avoid runs by pushing paint instead of applying an excessive amount along the trim or in the corners when there’s a load of the coloring material on the brush. To achieve a better result, commence brushing around half an inch from the cut-in area to apply paint. Move over and drag the brush slowly along the corner or trim as the tool unloads.

Allow the paint to be pushed gently by the bristles against the cut-in area on the exact point where the walls meet. To obtain complete coverage, you may need to do that a couple of times but at least it prevents excess paint from getting into the corners and woodwork.

Back when I started building my workshop, I had little to no idea about the tools that I was supposed to invest in. That’s why I asked for the opinion of one of my now best friends and neighbors, Dan. He had a lot of experience with building his own furniture, and that’s what I was interested in doing, as well. I didn’t want to do any metal work or anything like that, but I would have enjoyed repairing things around the house so that I wouldn’t have to pay for someone to come and do that for me.

Dan told me that I have to split the tools I’d need into some categories. Some can be used for measuring, such as tapes, speed squares, and levels, others are typical hammers, and you’d also need a variety of power tools. I thought I would write a post about five of the most important workshop tools that have helped me through and through so that other rookies like me would be able to benefit from reading it.

Get a drill press. While cordless drills are by far the most versatile alternative of all, most of the models you are likely to come across don’t have enough power for you to be able to take advantage of their versatility. If you want to invest in something worth the while, I’d suggest getting a drill press. I was able to find out more about the reasons I should consider such a tool both from Dan and thanks to some online research that I undertook all by myself. This is the source of the article that has helped me the most.

Consider buying a circular saw. If you’re an amateur woodworker like me, you definitely need a circular saw for rough dimensioning and a variety of other tasks, as well. A table saw would be a lot more useful; however, not too many DIY-ers can afford getting one right off the bat, so you might at least consider a circular saw and some good-quality protective equipment.

Try out a power jointer and thickness planer. Flattening the faces of reclaimed or rough lumber can’t be done efficiently unless you put in a lot of time and effort into the whole process. To avoid all of this, I suggest using a power jointer. The thickness planer can help you save a lot of time, and if patience isn’t one of your virtues, you definitely need to consider one of these, as well.

Get a shop vac. Nothing beats a clean workspace, and you know it. If you don’t get a drill press that comes with a specific attachment with the help of which you can keep your table nice and tidy, you at least have to use a shop vac once in a while to get rid of all those wood shavings, scrapings, and all the other debris in your shop.

Find a portable drill that best suits the size of your hands. If your hands are smaller, you might find it difficult to get a good power tool that enables you to get a good hold on to it properly.